Constitution

Melville Residents’ Association Constitution

The Association is and shall continue to be known as the MELVILLE RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (MRA).

With effect from the time of its approval by members at the general meeting on 7 September 2006, the Constitution as amended from time to time is the sole and only Constitution of the MRA.

The MELVILLE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION is hereinafter referred to the “the Association”. The Association is a body corporate with perpetual succession. The Association is capable of suing and being sued in its own name and it may own, purchase, sell, hire, lease, mortgage, pledge or in any other way acquire, alienate or deal with movable property and may perform all legal activities authorised by this Constitution as well as legal activities normally associated with a body corporate.

The MRA shall be non-political and its objectives shall be:

To watch over an protect and promote the interests of all residents in Johannesburg, particularly those in the greater Melville area;

To encourage the formation of similar non-political associations of residents in other suburbs;

To determine by fee discussion and deliberation, the views of the majority of the residents within the suburb;

To co-operate, consult and collaborate with its representative member/s of the City Council to ensure the voice of public opinion being heard and given due consideration in the management of the city; and

To support the principle of direct representation of the electorate upon the City Council, and to oppose any movement which tends to impede the freedom of action of its elected representatives upon the City Council.

Membership of the Association shall be of two classes:

Private Membership, which shall be open to any person who is legally a property owner or tenant, or a member of the family of either, in the area generally known as Melville or as an extension thereof, and who is over 18 years of age;

Business Membership, which shall be open to any person, partnership, company or other corporate body carrying on business in or from premises within the defined are in (a) above.

The annual subscription of the member shall be an amount determined by the Committee from time to time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the subscription for a business member shall never be less than three times that for a private member. The subscription year of the Association shall terminate the last day of June.

The financial year of the Association shall end on the last day of June. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association shall be held before the last day of August, and the audited accounts of the Association shall be tabled at that meeting. Notice of the AGM shall be communicated to members at least eight days prior to the date thereof and shall specify the purpose thereof.

A Special General Meeting may be called at any time, either by the Committee or by the secretary upon receipt by him or her of written demand therefore signed by at least 10 members in good standing and setting out in full the reasons for said demand. Notice of a Special General Meeting shall be communicated to members at least eight days prior to the date thereof and shall specify the purpose thereof.

Only members qualified by payment of current subscription shall be entitled to speak and vote at meetings, though the Chairperson shall have the power to waive this requirement as far as speaking is concerned a private member who holds or represents a business membership shall be entitled to vote in respect of both memberships. There shall be no votes by proxy.

The affairs of the Association shall be conducted and governed by a committee consisting of not more than 12 members who shall be elected at the AGM or co-opted in terms of Clause 12 hereof:

Committee members offer, and are appointed to render, community service for the benefit of Melville and committee members shall not be remunerated by the MRA for services rendered as committee members, but may be reimbursed for legitimate disbursements made on behalf of the MRA and previously authorised by the committee.

A simple majority of committee members present at any committee meeting shall be sufficient to carry a resolution. In the event of a deadlock, the chairperson shall have a casting vote. All members of the committee shall abide by any lawful decision of the committee.

The committee may consist of both private and business MRA members; however business members shall constitute no more than 33% of the total number of members making up the committee. In being considered for membership of the MRA committee, Private Members owning businesses trading in Melville will be considered Business members, even if not paid up as such.

Any committee member with any financial or other interest in any matter being discussed or subjected to a vote shall inform the chairperson of the interest and recuse himself or herself from any debate on and the vote on the matter.

The committee shall, at its first meeting, which shall be held not more than a month after the AGM, elect from among its members the following officers:

Chairperson;

Honorary secretary, and

Honorary treasurer.

The names of these shall be advised to members within one month of their election.

No committee member shall be chairperson for more than three years unless there is majority agreement on the matter.

The following person shall be disqualified from being committee members of the Association:

Anyone who is or becomes a city councillor;

Anyone failing to attend three successive committee meetings; without submission of an apology acceptable to the committee;

Anyone not in good standing as a member of the Association.

The committee shall have the power to co-opt members eligible in terms of this Constitution to be members of the committee to fill casual vacancies remaining after the election at the AGM.

The committee shall have the power to constitute sub-committees for special purposes. Such sub-committees may include persons who are not themselves members of the committee or of the Association, if the committee regards this as in the interests of the Association. The chairperson of any such sub-committee shall, however, always be a member of the committee.

The committee shall meet as often as necessary to ensure a good level of activity in the interest of the Association. Committee meetings shall be convened:

At least once a month;

At dates set by the committee in meeting;

At the request of the chairperson;

At the request of the secretary;

At the request of the treasurer; or

Upon written demand of at least three committee members.

Notice of any committee meeting, including the agenda thereof, shall be communicated to committee members at least seven days prior to the date thereof, in a place easily accessible to all members of the committee.

The secretary or acting secretary of the committee at any committee meeting shall within two weeks of such meetings issue and display minutes of the meeting.

Five committee members shall form a quorum of a meeting of the committee. If a quorum is not present within 40 minutes of the time set for the commencement of any committee meeting, that meeting shall stand adjourned. It shall thereafter be reconvened, notice of the new date and venue communicated to committee members at least seven days prior to the date thereof and the members then present shall be deemed to form a quorum.

The committee shall have authority to act in concert with bodies similar to the Association on matters of common interest and to pay subscriptions for such memberships of any association of such bodies.

All funds of the Association, save and except for cash floats required for minor running expenses, shall be deposited with recognised banking institutions and/or building societies, and drawings therefrom shall require the signature of any two out of three committee members authorised thereto from time to time by the committee.

Amendment of this constitution shall be effected only at an AGM or at a Special General Meeting convened for that purpose. The full text of any proposed amendment shall be published in Notice of the Meeting. To pass such an amendment, a favourable vote of two-thirds of the members present at such meeting shall be necessary and the chairperson of the meeting shall not be empowered to exercise his or her casting vote for that purpose.

Upon a resolution carried by the votes of two thirds of the members attending a Special General Meeting held for the purpose, the Association may be dissolved. In the event of such dissolution the funds of the Association and any other assets it may still have after all liabilities have been discharged shall be disposed of either to another body with similar aims and objects or to a charitable purpose, as the meeting may determine by a simple majority vote. In no circumstances whatsoever shall any assets of the Association be divided among its members, or paid over to any of them.